🚀 go-pugleaf

> They are most emphatically *not* the same.  DiTroff's ``device
> independent'' output is different for each device; I think it's
> misnamed; it should be called ``device specific'' output. ...
> 
> TeX's output is precisely the same for every device; in fact, TeX
> itself doesn't care *what* device will eventually be used.  ...

I hate to tell you this, but even TeX has to care about the output
device.  Things like character widths affect line breaks, and widths
are seldom the same from one device to another.  The use of device-
independent units of measurement is a red herring; the quality of the
output is still going to be poor if the formatter has the wrong idea
about what device the stuff is headed for.

This does not alter the answer to the original question:  while both
formatters use an intermediate code whose *format* is device-independent
(although its contents aren't), the two formats are related only in
intent.  They're not the same.  Anyone who claims they are has probably
gotten confused over the similar terminology.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry